Technology Lab —

Microsoft takes on Dropbox with major SkyDrive update

Microsoft transforms its SkyDrive service.

A couple of years ago we lamented the state of Microsoft's cloud storage services. On the one hand, there was SkyDrive, with gobs of storage. On the other hand, there was Mesh, with file synchronization and remote access. Two separate products, when really there should have been one.

And now there is. Microsoft has rolled out a set of new SkyDrive apps and new online capabilities to make SkyDrive the one-stop shop for file syncing and remote file access. On the software side, there are new clients for Windows and Mac OS X to sync files with the cloud, and updated versions of the Windows Phone and iOS clients (there's no first-party Android app, but Microsoft recommends a couple of third-party programs).

On the cloud side, there's are some major changes to availability. Under the old system, users had 25 GB of non-synced SkyDrive cloud storage, and 5 GB of synced Mesh storage. Now, there's just a single 7 GB of synced storage, with paid options to buy more space, starting at $10 for 20 GB per year, up to $50 for 100 GB per year. Though this increases the amount of synced storage, it nonetheless represents a reduction in total storage availability. However, any users that signed up for SkyDrive before April 22, and who have uploaded at least one file to the service, are eligible for a free upgrade to 25 GB. Existing users with at least 4 GB uploaded will pick up the 25 GB update automatically.

The software client incorporates most of Mesh's features. It performs file synchronization, and it also optionally enables remote file system access, allowing even non-SkyDrive files to be accessed via the SkyDrive site. With Mesh, we were critical of the way it lacked the simplicity of Dropbox, with its prominently displayed "magic" synchronized folder. The new SkyDrive all but clones Dropbox's way of working, with a new special "SkyDrive" folder created in your user directory, and all files placed in that folder automatically synced.

After authorizing via SMS, you can use any computer to browse the disks of any computer running the SkyDrive client app.

Microsoft

A handful of Mesh features haven't made their way to the new client. Mesh offered limiting synchronization of settings such as Internet Explorer bookmarks. The new SkyDrive does not. Setting synchronization via SkyDrive will, however, be an important feature of Windows 8, so it's likely that this feature will return in some capacity. Mesh (like Dropbox) also offered syncing over LAN when it detected that machines could share files without going over the Internet. This capability has been dropped in SkyDrive.

Mesh also offered remote desktop access simlar to that found in Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol. This was a great feature, as it worked even on Windows SKUs that had no native remote desktop facility. It also worked without requiring any ports to be forwarded on routers, so it had zero maintenance overhead. The removal of this feature is a pity; even Windows 8 retains Remote Desktop's positioning as a "premium" feature, with neither the standard Windows 8 SKU nor the ARM Windows RT SKU able to serve as Remote Desktop hosts. Windows users may have to start looking elsewhere to fill this gap.

The company is aggressively positioning SkyDrive as a superior alternative to Apple's iCloud, Dropbox, and Google's apps storage. With the new client, SkyDrive has become a lot more useful to a lot more people, and Windows 8's SkyDrive integration is set to take this to another level.

112 Reader Comments

"The company is aggressively positioning SkyDrive as a superior alternative to Apple's iCloud, Dropbox, and Google's apps storage. With the new client, SkyDrive has become A LOT LESS USEFUL to a lot more people, and Windows 8's SkyDrive integration is set to take this to another level."

And the day it works seamlessly across Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android they'll be contender for Dropbox replacement for me. I also absolutely detest Microsoft's authentication solutions (horrible usability), but that is probably because I use more than one machine and don't spend all my time on Windows.

Mesh (like Dropbox) also offered syncing over LAN when it detected that machines could share files without going over the Internet. This capability has been dropped in SkyDrive.

Does this mean you can no longer sync shares between machines that are NOT stored in "the cloud"? I use this feature extensively in my house, syncing large libraries between machines, and I can't upgrade if this feature goes away.

This is a clever "Social" marketing move.Frequent Skydrive users or tech news readers will go in an claim their storage. Anyone not selfish will then share the news to his network to make sure their friends get their free storage and by the same token, advertise the service to everyone ...

What about security via encryption? Sounds like one needs to encrypt using your own software before uploading to ensure security. There are sites that do this automatically and the upload site cannot decrypt your files (unlike Dropbox) because they do not have the keys to do so. See Spider Oak.

Mac client appears to offer almost no functionality whatsoever. No context menu additions, no bandwidth restriction settings, no options to exclude some directories etc. It may give more free space than Dropbox, but as things stand it's crap.

Hmmm... I wonder: Is it possible for DropBox and SkyDrive to sync the same folder? That way, I can leverage the best of both worlds...

Yes, you can set the SkyDrive target folder.

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What about security via encryption? Sounds like one needs you to encrypt using your own software before uploading to ensure security. There are sites that do this automatically and the upload site cannot decrypt your files (unlike Dropbox)

If the service allows you to view/download the files via the web without entering an encryption key, then the service can decrypt the files. This is true for Skydrive, Dropbox, Box, etc.

I tried SkyDrive briefly after seeing a previous Ars article but I stopped using it in favour of SpiderOak. (I preferred SpiderOak because it gave me more storage space, but also because it allows me to ignore particular files, and stuff like that.) I'll probably stick with SpiderOak for the foreseeable future, but I'm glad I got SkyDrive upgrade nonetheless.

I tried SkyDrive briefly after seeing a previous Ars article but I stopped using it in favour of SpiderOak. (I preferred SpiderOak because it gave me more storage space, but also because it allows me to ignore particular files, and stuff like that.) I'll probably stick with SpiderOak for the foreseeable future, but I'm glad I got SkyDrive upgrade nonetheless.

Spideroak gives you 2Gb free space; MS gives you 7Gb, and 25Gb if you've used your old Skydrive account.

Tried it out when I got home from work. Works flawlessly, just as it's supposed to. But I have no need for it. Live Mesh provides me the functionality I truly enjoy. Being able to sync entire large folders (my entire pictures and documents folder for one thing, way larger than 25GB combined, much less the 5GB that originally was only available with the Live Mesh program) over LAN and having basic remote desktop features built in makes it quite the versatile program.

Not to mention I fucking HATE the "throw everything in this single folder to sync" kind of motto that Dropbox and this new Skydrive follow. Why the hell would I want all of my carefully organized files just throw into a single folder? I have them separated and organized for a reason. That's another area I prefer to the current Live Mesh program. It doesn't create a single file that you have to use for syncing. It allows you to pick and choose which ones you want.

I hope they eventually merge Lives Mesh and Skydrive into one all encompassing program, otherwise as much as I love using Skydrive, I'll stick to the web interface for manual uploads and use the Lives Mesh program on my computer for syncing across laptop and desktop.

EDIT: I just gotta say, I love the fact that Microsoft has allowed us early adopters to keep the 25GB of storage. And the fact the file limit has been raised to 2GB is fantastic. Way to go in that area Microsoft. Reward your long-time users. Now get that Apollo update pushed to my 1st gen device

I just signed up and started playing with SkyDrive 2 weeks ago because I wanted someplace "in the cloud" to backup pictures of my newborn son. I liked the 25 gb limit on SkyDrive but was finding the web interface for using the entire 25 gbs (instead of the 5gb sync) annoying to use because it didn't handle uploading entire folders with sub-folders. It looks like this solves that issue and keeps me at the 25gb limit.

I tried SkyDrive briefly after seeing a previous Ars article but I stopped using it in favour of SpiderOak. (I preferred SpiderOak because it gave me more storage space, but also because it allows me to ignore particular files, and stuff like that.) I'll probably stick with SpiderOak for the foreseeable future, but I'm glad I got SkyDrive upgrade nonetheless.

Spideroak gives you 2Gb free space; MS gives you 7Gb, and 25Gb if you've used your old Skydrive account.

Shill much?

If you sign up using a referral (such as this one, from me) SpiderOak gives you an additional 1GB. The referrer also gets an additional 1GB for each referred signup, up to a maximum of 10GB.

I said that SpiderOak gave me more free space, and I was being honest about that. The "mesh" storage from Microsoft was only 5GB until recently.

Not to mention I fucking HATE the "throw everything in this single folder to sync" kind of motto that Dropbox and this new Skydrive follow. Why the hell would I want all of my carefully organized files just throw into a single folder? I have them separated and organized for a reason. That's another area I prefer to the current Live Mesh program. It doesn't create a sing

You are aware that you can put sub-folders in the Dropbox folder, right? You know, to keep things organized. I am pretty sure when you install dropbox it even has some sub-folders in there.

Or, you could change your Dropbox folder to whatever document folder you are using. Or do your files not share any sort of root directory?

I was honestly surprised at how well this worked. I had installed the client on my Windows 8 box when the news broke, and later decide to try the Mac version while out and about. I expected to get to my Personal folders on my computer. That in and of itself would have been great. Instead, I was actually able to get to networked shared drives and the 1TB harddrive I keep around for emergencies.

In short: impressive. Most impressive. Since Android has sort of become my hobby horse rather than a daily driver, I really don't see much use in dropbox over Skydrive now. I would not have thought that a few months back. I mean, right now, I've also got the 50GB bonus from Box.net, and the 25GB Skydrive, so the 4GB I racked up on Dropbox is looking...anemic.

I won't declare Microsoft the winner until I see how/if it integrates with Office 15 (automatic saves to the cloud AND computer would be nice) but today I realized there's little "bonus" to dropbox. Even the "direct link" feature they released today is there in skydrive (though, admittedly, it's 4 clicks versus 1 click). Skydrive can also post directly to Facebook.

Seriously, I'm surprised. Being able to get into my home computer on the go is...nice. Microsoft just made something relatively simple, that plays across Apple and Microsoft products, and does so in an intelligent way. The only thing missing is the ability to browse my whole Mac from my Windows boxes, but that might not be something Microsoft can get it to do easily. That or they're still Microsoft, and don't mind releasing a slightly gimped Mac version.